Annual Report for the year 2011

On provision of information according to Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on free access to information

Numbers of accepted and settled requests for information

Received in total

Settled directly

Transferred for settlement

Requests (Section 18 paragraph 1, letter a)

17

16

-

Appeal (Section 18 paragraph 1, letter b)

6

6

-

Section 18 paragraph 1, letter a)

Number of requests made for information: 17

Section 18 paragraph 1, letter b)

Number of appeals made against ruling: 6

Section 18 paragraph 1, letter c)

Copy of significant parts of each court judgement: -

Section 18 paragraph 1, letter d)

Calculation of provided exclusive licences: -

Section 18 paragraph 1, letter e)

Number of complaints made according to Article 16a,reasons for their submission and method of settling them: 1

The applicant requesting information related to the grant of general pardon – Ing. Jiří Kotlík failed at the appeal. The applicant filed a complaint with respect to the processing of his application by the President’s Office. Since the procedure used to issue the first instance as well as the appeal decision was in compliance with the provisions of Act No. 106/1999 coll., on free access to information, as amended, the application was rejected.

Section 18 paragraph 1, letter f)

Further information:

With respect to the application for information provision, it can be said that the procedure reflected the actions of the President of the Republic, either in relation to his opinions expressed on “global warming” or to his private activities. In these cases it was pointed out that these circumstances are not subject to Act No. 106/1999 Coll. on free access to information as amended, as they have no relation to the professional activities of the President’s Office.

There were several requests repeated from the previous year, related to the approach of the President of the Republic to the “Christmas Agreement with Political Parties” in 2010. The response was once again that the President’s Office does not have information on these negotiations.

With respect to the published information on the earnings of the top government employees, there was an increased number of applications requesting information on salaries (wages, bonuses and additional income) not only from news reporters but from individual citizens as well. The requests were related to the head of the President’s Office, his deputies and some of the heads of departments of the President’s Office. All requests for information as well as appeals were rejected – referring to the applicable legal regulations and to the financial penalties applicable to any violations of these regulations.

There were repeated – similar to previous years – requests for explanation of reasons for granting general pardons, including requests for disclosure of the entire files. These requests were rejected with respect to the constitutional authority of the President and especially to the non-public nature of this procedure. According to the reasoning issued on the basis of the ČR Constitution, this is a personal right of the President.

One request for provision of information according to Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on free access to information, as amended (President’s visit to Russia) was recalled. Therefore, no decision was taken on this request.

In conclusion, the President’s Office declares that in most cases of requests for provision of information, there is an apparent lack of knowledge of the applicable laws, and in some cases it can be even said that the law has been abused. However, the President’s Office is required to deal with such requests and address them according to the law.

In Prague, February 20, 2012

The Annual Report submitted by: Ladislav Jakl, Director of the Political Department of the President’s OfficeThe Annual Report approved by: PhDr. Ing. Jiří Weigl, CSc, Head of the President’s Office